Video: Selecting hair

One of the most difficult selections to make is a selection around a soft fine edge like a model's hair, or animal fur, or some fine leaves on a tree. None of the selection tools that we've seen so far will do a very good job of making that kind of selection; but there is one feature, Refine Edge, which can help you to make just this kind of selection. Let me show you how it's done. I'll start by making an initial selection using a couple of the selection tools that we've already seen. I'll get the Quick Selection Brush tool, I'll come into the image, and I'm going to click and drag over the harder-edged parts of this photo--the model's jacket and the model's hand.

Go beyond the automatic editing features in Adobe Photoshop Elements and find out how to make sophisticated edits using the Expert Edit mode. In this course, author, teacher, and photographer Jan Kabili explores the core features of the Expert Edit mode, from making exposure adjustments, retouching, and compositing images, to adding text. The course also takes a close look at adjusting photos with Adobe Camera Raw, included with Elements 11.

Selecting hair

One of the most difficult selections to make is a selection around a soft fineedge like a model's hair, or animal fur, or some fine leaves on a tree.None of the selection tools that we've seen so far will do a very good job ofmaking that kind of selection; but there is one feature, Refine Edge, which canhelp you to make just this kind of selection.Let me show you how it's done.I'll start by making an initial selection using a couple of the selection toolsthat we've already seen.I'll get the Quick Selection Brush tool, I'll come into the image, and I'm goingto click and drag over the harder-edged parts of this photo--the model's jacketand the model's hand.

Then I'm going to switch to a tool over which I have more control, the Lasso tool.I'll click on the Lasso tool here in the toolbar, and then in its Options barI'll click the Add icon to add to this initial selection.Then I'm going to come into the image and with this tool, I'm going to click anddrag close to the edge of the model's hair, but I'm not going to include in thisselection those wispy hairs at the very edge of her head.I'll go all the way around her head like this.When I get back to the beginning of this selection, I'll release my mouse toclose the selection border.

So there's an initial selection.Now what I want to do is try to bring in these edges of her hair, and to do thatI'm going to open the selection into the Refine Edge dialog box.You can open Refine Edge from the Refine Edge button that you'll find in theoptions bar for any of the selection tools.I'll click Refine Edge, and here in the Refine Edge dialog box, I'll start withthe View menu, selecting the background against which I want to see my selectionas I work on it here.I'm going to leave this set to On Black in this case, but there's no oneanswer for all images.

You just have to try out these various views and find the one that's most useful.I'll click outside this menu to close it.Now when I'm trying to make a soft- edged selection like this, the Radius slideris the feature that I reach for.Watch what happens as I drag the Radius slider over to the right.The edges of her hair are coming back into view, meaning that they're beingincluded in the selection.If I'm not getting the result I want, I'll sometimes try checking Smart Radius,but I think this is doing a pretty good job even without Smart Radius checked.Now if I want to bring in even more detail, I'll use this brush--theEdge Detection brush.

This brush is actually adding to the radius, so if I come into this area and Iclick and drag, you start to see that there is some hair out here and that moreof it is being included in this selection as I drag over this area with theEdge Detection brush.Now I am not painting in a selection here.What I'm doing is defining an area inside of which I'm telling Elements to makethe decision about what should be selected and what shouldn't.We can see that radius, that border, by coming up to the Show Radius checkboxhere and putting a checkmark in that box.

So this border is the area in which I'm letting Elements make the selectiondecision for me, including this area that I painted in over here with theEdge Detection brush.I'll uncheck Show Radius to go back to the regular view and continue to workaround the edges of the image with the Edge Detection brush.So now I've been all the way around the model's head using the Edge Detection brush.Notice that up here the black background is starting to show through her hair,so what I want to do here is to tell Elements not to include this area in theradius, in the part of the image where it's making the selection decisions.

To do that, I'll get the Edge Detection Eraser tool here, and I'll click anddrag over her hair.I went a little bit too far there, so I'll go back and get the Edge Detectionbrush again and click and drag to include that little bit in the radius.Now notice that the edges of her hair look a little bit gray. That's becausethose edges are being contaminated by some of the light surrounding color inthe original photo.To try to reduce that light color, I'll go to the Output section of this dialogbox and check Decontaminate Colors, and then I'll drag the Amount slider over to the right.

Keep your eye on the image as I do that, and you can see some of that lightcolor disappearing.Now it's not perfect, but I think that selection is looking a lot better thanthe one that we started with.So I'm ready to output the selection.I'll do that by making a choice from the Output menu here.Because I used the Decontaminate Colors feature, I don't have the option tooutput as a straight selection or as a layer mask, but I can choose to output abrand-new layer or any of the other options that you see here.I'm going to go with new layer and then I'll click OK to close the Refine Edgedialog box and go back out to the Document window.

So here's the result.Now in the Layers panel, I have the three layers;the original photo of the model is on this middle layer.I'll show you that to remind where we started by holding the Alt key--that's theOption key on the Mac--and clicking on the eye icon for that model layer.I'll make that layer invisible again by Alt or Option+clicking on its eye icon.The top layer, the model copy layer, is the one that the Refine Edge dialogbox created for me.I'll Alt+click or Option+click on its eye icon so you can see what this layer contains.Elements selected the model's head, including some of the wispy hair around theedge of her head, and then it inverted the selection and deleted the surroundingpixels, leaving us with transparency on this layer.

Because these parts of this layer are transparent, when I turn on the extrabackground layer that I made--this gradient layer, by clicking its eye icon--we can see down through the transparent parts of the model copy layer to the gradient below.I really don't need the original model layer anymore, so I'll select it and I'lldrag it up to the layer trash at the top of the Layers panel.I think you can see how powerful the Refine Edge dialog box is when it comesto selecting soft edges, like hair, or animal fur, or perhaps the edges of a leafy tree.

So give it a try on your own photos.

There are currently no FAQs about Photoshop Elements 11 Essentials: 02 Editing and Retouching Photos .

Learn by watching, listening, and doing, Exercise files are the same files the author uses in the course, so you can download them and follow along Premium memberships include access to all exercise files in the library.

Already a member ?

Learn by watching, listening, and doing! Exercise files are the same files the author uses in the course, so you can download them and follow along. Exercise files are available with all Premium memberships.
Learn more

Upgrade to our Annual Premium Membership today and get even more value from your lynda.com subscription:

“In a way, I feel like you are rooting for me. Like you are really invested in my experience, and want me to get as much out of these courses as possible this is the best place to start on your journey to learning new material.”— Nadine H.

Thanks for signing up.

We’ll send you a confirmation email shortly.

Sign up and receive emails about lynda.com and our online training library:

new course releases

newsletter

general communications

special notices

Here’s our privacy policy with more details about how we handle your information.

Keep up with news, tips, and latest courses with emails from lynda.com.

Sign up and receive emails about lynda.com and our online training library:

new course releases

newsletter

general communications

special notices

Here’s our privacy policy with more details about how we handle your information.